Animal Abusers Facing Strict Prohibition Starting Jan. 1 In California

CALIFORNIA — A measure that places a 10-year firearms ban on people convicted of misdemeanor animal cruelty in California was headed to Gov. Gavin Newsom's desk for signature on Friday after passing through the state Legislature.

If the 2024 Gun Violence Prevention Act (Senate Bill 902) is signed as expected, California would be among only a few states to enact such a prohibition tied to misdemeanor animal abuse.

Anyone convicted of extreme acts of animal cruelty on or after January 1, 2025 — including maliciously and intentionally maiming, mutilating, torturing or wounding an animal, or maliciously or intentionally killing an animal — would be subject to the ban.

Current state law places a lifetime ban on gun ownership/possession for convicted felons, but those found guilty of misdemeanors are subject to more lax firearms restrictions. In the case of misdemeanor animal abuse, it's often just one year.

"Given the link between violence against animals and violence against humans, a single year of probation is not enough time for a convicted animal abuser to be barred from lawful access to firearms," said Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin.

SB 902 ensures a safer community for all — "people and animals alike," Hestrin said.

Senators Richard D. Roth (D-Riverside) and Senator Anthony Portantino (D-Burbank) introduced SB 902.

"Our Gun Violence Prevention Act furthers our state’s gun violence prevention efforts by ensuring that people with a history of violence are unable to access firearms," Roth said. "Animal cruelty is a known predictor of current and future violence, including crimes of assault, rape, murder, arson, domestic violence, and sexual abuse of children."

"This is a critically important common-sense gun violence prevention measure that will help keep guns out of the hands of violent convicted criminals," Portantino said.

In a gut-wrenching 2012 book, "Shattered Silence," by the daughter of serial murderer Keith Hunter Jesperson, otherwise known as the "Happy Face Killer," Melissa Moore recounts in the opening pages how her father tortured kittens. The graphic details are nearly impossible to read.

Jesperson is now serving multiple life sentences without the possibility of parole in the slayings of eight women across the western United States over the course of five years, though he has confessed to many other killings. One of his victims was found dead in Riverside County.

A 2021 FBI law enforcement bulletin backs up the animal abuse predictor.

"Historically, animal cruelty has been considered an isolated issue, but recent research shows a well-documented link that it is a predictive or co-occurring crime with violence against humans (including intimate partners, children, and elders) and is associated with other types of violent offenses," according to the FBI.

A statement by the California District Attorneys Association in support of SB 902 argued that stricter prohibitions on animal abusers are necessary.

"... empirical evidence shows that abuse towards animals is strongly associated with violence against other persons," according to the CDAA. "By imposing this prohibition of firearms for those convicted of qualifying crimes, this bill directly removes one such tool that an abuser can use to inflict violence on others."

A federal bill attempted to strengthen prohibitions on animal abusers. Introduced in 2018 by Rep. Katherine M. Clark of Massachusetts, H.R. 6278 died in committee.

"While the attempt in Congress was unsuccessful, SB 902 is this Legislature’s opportunity to address this problem in California," according to the CDAA.